My name is Stacey Howard and I'm so happy to be a part of Outschool!  I am a mom of two wonderful girls, Amaya, age 17, and Lilah, age 14.  I attended Florida State University and have a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology.  I am a certified teacher in the areas of Art K-12, Elementary Education K - 5, ESE K - 12, and I'm also Gifted Endorsed.  I have been privileged to be able to teach children from ages 3 thru 16 years old. 

My first job out of college was managing a children's photography studio for a few years. It was then that I realized I loved teaching photography and wanted to take my skills further and become a school teacher.  Therefore, I have been a certified public school teacher for the past 19 years.  It was within the public schools, I found my true passion which was teaching visual arts.  I have been fortunate enough to teach art in both the elementary and middle school sectors where I have had the artistic freedom to be able to create my own art curriculum based on the ages and needs of the students.  I have also taught at two local art museums throughout the summer for many years.

My teaching philosophy is to convey knowledge of the arts to my students in a fun and engaging way while allowing them to freely explore a variety of mediums and express their own creativity.  I believe it is extremely important to relate the art subject matter to real-life context by making a connection between the arts to their day-to-day life and level of understanding.  I want my students to feel confident that they can learn life-long skills that can be used way beyond the classroom.   Most importantly though, I feel as an art teacher that I’ve been given a platform to create positive change in our world and my mission is to bring optimism, hope, unity, and confidence to our children through the arts.  

It is such a gift to have the opportunity to teach amazing children from all over the world.  My favorite quote, by Pablo Picasso, is "Every Child Is An Artist" and I can't wait to see the inner artist in each of you!